ActiveCaptain® Customer Service

So for me, I have always bought Garmin for 30+ years. I have to say it has been a love hate relationship over the years. I do believe Garmin has the best interface of all brands but I feel at times they fall short to go all the way. I was between 3 and 4 stars, i gave it 4 be cause the more I use active Captain (and its Interface with the boat) the more I have learned about its capabilities. There is so much that the app can do for you why the 4 star, but, as always, pour tutorial support as to how to really do it (why almost 3 stars), it is a frustrating learning process and very time consuming. You can easily sit at home or on the boat for hours just trying to navigate the system. Second remark and why almost a 3 star, I use both my iPhone and IPad with the app. They are both online and I am logged into my account, why can they not sync between each other? I literally have to have them side by side and verify all settings line by line. The settings should live in the cloud and be shared by all devices. This causes the status of different devices not to match and if you update your software on your marine devices, the updates and user data does not match, very frustration. End the end, once you spend the time to learn it, I love it, but. This review, while for this app, really refers to this app, its usage and its interface with your marine devices and its usage. I will stick with Garmin in the end.

I have had Simrad and Raymarine chatplotters and find that Garmin is an overall better plotter, easier to use, and the app is nice to have. Being able to upgrade all of my Garmin devices from my phone makes it so much easier. I do think there is a lot of work that needs to be done to stabilize and improve the ActiveCaptain iPhone app. It constantly crashes to the point where I am unable to enter waypoints in it before trips or do anything besides just looking around on the map. I have a newer iPhone so that should not be the issue. Being able to see a list of waypoints on the app with coordinates, select one or many of them, and “share” by text or email would be a nice-to-have so I can share waypoints with others.

We stayed at Chipman’s for a month in June and early July doing some troubleshooting and waiting for parts. Pat and her son Chip own and run the marina and they have for almost 30 years. Chip is a skilled mechanic—at very reasonable rates—for many types of boats and engines and he helped Dave disassemble a difficult to remove wet exhaust riser. Many of the non-transient boaters have kept their boats here for years and they were also very helpful in troubleshooting, recommending local resources, and showing us how they had solved a problem similar to ours. Chip steps a lot of masts; we often saw them do more than one a day. People put their name on their wood mast supports and leave them at Chipman’s on their way north to Montreal and then reuse them next season when they head south down the Hudson. The two main stone buildings are over 200 years old and 4 stories high. The washer and dryer are to die for—only $1 a load. Just watch your clothes in the dryer—it gets hot. This was a fantastic place for us and just what we needed, but this is not a place with lots of shopping or activities. This is a lovely rural area. The two convenience stores in Orwell are four hilly (I admit to having to walk up a couple of them) but scooterable miles away with dairy farms, cows, picturesque old barns, and beautifully kept yards and fields. Chip puts on an incredible July 4 fireworks show. If you stop, be sure to ask Pat to tell you her sailboat in the lock story.

I decided to drop some money on a new Garmin 93SV this past Christmas to start my fishing season for 2023. Lucky for me, I have a fishing friend who had previously purchased a Garmin 93SV and is a deep researcher on everything in the fishing equipment arena. When the Active Captain application became one of our conversation pieces, I liked what I heard and saw with this app and I made a decision to buy my own Garmin 93SV and learn more about this Active Captain app. The thing that I loved out of the gate with the Active Captain application was knowing when/if there were any updates for my Garmin 93SV. If so, it just walked me through it step by step. Another thing great about this application is that I can add others devices and monitor them for updates as well. Overall, I am excited about my Garmin purchase and having and having the Active Captain application that does exactly what it says it can do is a plus (+) on my purchase. Another thing I love about the Active Captain app is that it walks you through the initial setup on the Garmin fish finder and if there’s anything I do not understand, there’s a place on one of its tabs where I can contact a Customer Service Support representative to call and help me with the setup or other questions I may need help with. Not often do I give a review this early in a purchase, but this one is the exception to my rule.

Love the app functions including the synch capability between my I phone and my Garmin MFD. The ability to keep my MFD up to date with the latest maps and software without using a PC and a SD card to update is also awesome. I have Active Captain installed on both my iPhone and my iPad and both are logged into the same Garmin account as my MFD. I always have my phone with me when I am on the boat and synch it to the MFD every time I am on the boat. It would be awesome if there was a way to synch user data between my iPhone and my iPad without having to take the iPad out to the boat to synch it separately from the iphone. I like to plan trips on my iPad, but when my user data is not as current as my iPhone, it is less useful. I know I can take my iPad to the boat to synch it with the MFD also, but it is more time consuming than if there were a way to synch iPhone with iPad without having to have both devices on the boat.

Excellent experience. Application is very flexible with attention to details. It’s important to know that the application processes safe navigation techniques consider depth of vessel draw, mast height, and your own considerations for navigation depth. Always need to do due diligence to verify proposed route. Gives you a chance to review navigation hazards. Details are important when navigating the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Solid program. Make sure you download all the maps and data required to navigate the area you are going to explore. A lesson learned is make sure your phone (secondary information source) is not exposed to the salt water during navigation. Salt will impact you charger phone port, your phone charger port, you get the drift. Lost a good Microsoft Surface computer due to salt spray and for awhile my back up navigation device. Well worth the money.

I have used the ActiveCaptain app for all of my Garmin updates and had zero issues updating. I have heard of issues through social media but for my experience I have not. I am not tech savvy and at 55 years old I know us older guys that use it can do it. My favorite video is from Russellmarineproducts and josh explains how to use the app and that is how I learned how to use it. My advice is read! And watch video from Russellmarine! It also has other features on the app that you will find very helpful when fishing like way-points ect. Be sure to register your units. The app keeps track of your units and trolling motor that are registered and automatically checks for updates when the come out and you decide to update or not. Hope this review will give someone a little insight as to how helpful and convenient the app is. Have a great day.

We just spent 2 weeks at New Port Cove at Lake Worth Inlet and couldn’t be more pleased with the service, location, and personnel. While waiting for a crossing window, we had some repairs done to our trawler and provisioned for a 3 month trip to the Abacos. We were an easy walk to Boat Owner’s Warehouse, Publix, BBT bank, Walgreen’s, multiple sport fishing stores, and Auto Zone and a cheap Uber ride to Walmart. The surrounding neighborhoods have seen tough times but we were met on our dog walks through them with consistently friendly people, multiple home and property renovations, and a huge presence of Rybovich boat yard’s expansion. GM Jim Nester is doing a great job updating the marina and getting (and keeping) enthusiastic and helpful staff. This was our second stay, and we will definitely be back. With all that and a 15 minute trip to Lake Worth Inlet, what more could you want?

Hi, I noticed the app has a 1.8 rating so I just had to weigh in and give it 5 stars. Yesterday, I downloaded the app and synced it with my 7612xsv and everything worked flawlessly!! Connected to my home WiFi, walked through all the prompts added a 32gig card and everything worked perfectly. She updated the software, found the network, walked through every feature and just did exactly what was advertised!! I even had the 7612 and my iPhone talking so well that my mfd chart displayed on my iPhone and I could control the mfd from the phone!! It was pretty cool and will be useful when I don’t want to sit at the helm to program and create trips. The iPhone app has lots of accurate info and I’m positive I will use it frequently. So, great job Garmin, keep improving and thank you for keeping this free!! Safe boating all!!

I’ve used this app for about six months and find it extremely useful. I’ve mapped the bottom contours of my lake with my Garmin and shared the data using this app with ease. I also use this app for navigation separately on my iPad while using my Garmin’s sonar. I also particularly like the ability to mirror the Garmin screen on my iPad with this app, which allows me to take the sonar screen to the back of the boat where the down riggers are—making it easier to match down rigger depth to fish returns. Yet another function is the ability to download and install software updates for my Garmin with ease. So many great functions that make this app a must have for those who are serious about boating electronics!

I gave this 5 stars for reliability, beautiful & clear graphics and a super friendly graphic user interface. When I purchased this GPS unit I put it on my sailboat because sometimes I like to fish from where I keep my boat moored. Now I realize it is so much more than just a fishfinder. It is an excellent navigation tool with different graphic views and perspectives and the wonderful source of information while out on the water as long as I have a Wi-Fi or cell signal. Another plus is how the device interfaces to my cell phone through Bluetooth. The user app is makes it even easier to keep updated. I can’t think of enough good things to say about this product.

I purchased the Southern lakes package for my Garmin Echomap UHD 94sv. I figured I could download the maps to my laptop and transfer to a Micro SD card and not have another app on my iPhone. But after not having the right SD card and taking forever to download, I decided to give the app a try. Once the app connected to the Garmin wireless it prompted me through the process and I just sat in my driveway and updated the chart plotter from my phone. And I also have the chart plotter map in my phone so if I’m ever out fishing with a friend or charter I can borrow some spots by using my phone then transfer to my unit. I did make a backup SD card with the desktop which the app cannot do.

I am really new to navigating the ICW and near offshore 50 miles and closer. I am still soaking in the information and learning how all of this stuff works. My best advice is that less is definitely more when it comes to being bold vs being careful. I am learning more about the rules of the road so to speak. Actually the rules of nautical navigation. I am really pleasantly surprised by the way that Garmin has made the Active Captain app for your phone and tablet. You can actually use your phone to control your chart plotter. I look forward to applying what I have learned toward my quest in offshore fishing. Watch the utube videos on how to…. Everything! I really like it!

Simple, pay $10 for a 32GB micro SD card. Put it into the fishfinder 93SV and the unit activates Activate Captain - automatically searches, downloads and installs. My map zooming is much faster and smoother. I’m very impressed by this feature and learning the card in the unit for future auto sync updates. I wish they would stress this much more as a important cheap simple MUST DO with Active Captain app. I also have enjoyed the import export feature under the app allows me to transfer either way with Hummingbird/Minn Kota - One Boat app, all my units have the same waypoints, routes and tracks. It would be a 5 star but I want more time and practice. A retired soldier never commits fully unit they know.

I enjoy this app a lot. I was dissapointed to not be able to load the charts onto my Garmin striker 4, but found that having my iPad in a mount worked out great. I have had zero issues with the app. I wish it were a little more intuitive to mark a waypoint. I wish it were a little more intuitive to remove clutter from the charts. Also wish it were able to auto zoom depending on speed. Even switch to fishing mode if you slowed below 5 knots. Also would be great if it uploaded your tracks and you could view them on other devices. But all in all really happy with this app.

This app is a great tool for updating Garmin chartplotters. It also is great at planning when not sitting in your boat. There is some delay and lag in getting the app to recognize the equipment (typically two attempts needed) but once connected, everything works fine. I doubt if this is a problem with the gear and more the Bluetooth/wifi connection between units. Also, Garmin support is outstanding as I have used them for an unrelated but ongoing problem with a piece of equipment that has been glitchy since purchase. The team is professional, courteous and accurate.

I am professional captain I move vessels from the US Virgin Islands to Maine. The Active Captain helps me find places to stop and what’s available when I get there! It is a perfect planing tool for a captain. Only one down side and the reason not 5 star. The new mobile app does not have the ability to record a track. The old Blue Chart Mobile could and has many tracks I laid down. I could always refer back to good water. Not all vessels use Garmin for their main navigation system. I’m never without a backup system. Garmin please add tracking on the mobile side of active tracking, or help me if I’m missing something. Captain Fred

We have been sailing in the Caribbean for ten years and Ram Marina is the best boatyard and marina we have encountered. Karen López, the manager, is friendly, efficient and keeps the work on track. Her English is excellent and she arranged Van rides to and from the airport and even made dinner reservations for us. We had high quality work done on our boat and are extremely pleased with every result. The workers are friendly, skilled, show up on time and take pride in their work. They have a fantastic paint shed where a sailboat can go in without taking down the mast; the paint jobs we saw were all excellent. The prices are good value. We highly recommend Ram Marina Maggie Salter and Al Hickey S/V Sweet Dreams

All kinds of features that make life easier. I hooked all my Garmin equipment up and it registered everything through active captain for me. Great for sending and receiving data from my iPad. Allows me to use my iPad as a portable MFD. Biggest downfall I have found is sometimes you have to close helm and then start helm again if the iPad isn't used for awhile. That said it only takes a second to do so not a big deal. Went Fishing yesterday and it was so nice to have my iPad right next to me watching what was going on wether on the bow of boat or in the cockpit. Great app in my opinion!

My wife and I feel fortunate that we had a good friend introduce us to Stock Island Marina Village this marina is truly a hidden treasure well-maintained slips easily accessible management and staff are outstanding The amenities are all meticulously maintained showers, laundry, captains lounge, office/store, also in conjunction with the on site Perry Hotel there are two restaurants, swimming pool, and a shuttle that leaves on the hour to Key West proper. The shuttle will drop you off for shopping (Publix) and pick you up for the return. You can enjoy everything there is in Key West but stay out of the congestion and noise. PS great fuel prices and discounts over 100 gal. Ray and Dianne Mackey

I can only comment on the features used inland. I have several Garmin products and continue to be impressed with each device I purchase. Taking a little time to set up, let’s you always know where you are, where you’re heading, what time you’ll get there and what the conditions are! The Active Captain app. makes it easy to stay updated and manage your devices as well as communicate with others. I have much to learn about my new Echomap UHD 93sv, but I’m impressed right out of the gate!

OK I am not much on debt finders fishfinders platters and I’ve always had simple ones this thing is so well advanced and easy to use sure I don’t know what I’m doing yet and I had to call for support about doing an update they walked me right through it it was simple and easy, took it out on the water this thing is phenomenal it hooks up to your Bluetooth on your phone you get your text messages and let you know where you’re going it tells you where to go this thing is awesome so much yet to learn I am really impressed

I actually kind of like the app and see where they were trying to go with it. Maybe I just got lucky with my setup, an iPad Pro, Garmin 942xs, and BlueChart g2 Vision HD. It’s nice that the high definition details now show up on my iPad. The wireless software/map updates and User Data Sync are also pretty nice features. Yes the app needs some work but it looks like they had put a lot of effort into it, so I applaud their efforts. I hope Garmin looks at the feedback from their users and takes is seriously. There is a lot of competition in this space and an app like this could be a big differentiator if done correctly.

So far the app has been easy to use. I’ve updated my software. I just updated the navionics. Not sure how that is working because I just did it. The only trouble so far is that it is only updating my one monitor. The other two haven’t done anything yet. So far the tech support has been awesome. I will have to give them a call back to see about the other two monitors. Only gave it a 4 star because I haven’t been out on the water since the updates.

I have a Garmin 7608xvs unit that I purchased in 2016 and updated the Active Captain app this year on my iPad & iPhone. I absolutely love the presentation on the iPad which I use on every trip we take on our boat. Extremely useful, easy, and helpful. I feel it keeps me safer on the water. Also, the Garmin guys are awesome. I could not figure out why my charts were coming up fine on my iPhone but not on my iPad. Called Garmin support and the tech spent an hour on the phone with me getting the appropriate charts downloaded to my iPad.

It’s absolutely amazing don’t know how I’ve went all these years without it I cannot wait to upgrade to a newer bigger unit it has made my fishing experience a completely different world unbelievably amazing I would absolutely recommend this to absolutely anyone whether it be for fishing navigating or just for general information for Lakes rivers and streams that you would like to check out If you do not have a Garmin an active captain you are missing out on a world of new opportunities!!!!

Longtime Simrad user but I just bought a used boat with a full garmin in package so I had to switch over to active captain. Loading charts and connecting via Wi-Fi to download waypoints is so easy now- no more taking a chip card down to the boat for updates. The only issue was that all of the gear was registered to the previous owner- one call to customer support and they contacted the previous and changed the registration for me on the app. Great experience so far

I have spent literally days trying to get my Humminbird Helix to stay connected to their app, to transfer a map that had to be purchased. It fails to stay connected, shows it transferred once so I lose access to the map, and never transfers. In 15 minutes with a brand new Garmin 1222 I had Wi-fi setup, the app downloaded and connected, and livescope and unit software updates completed through my iPhone app! Flawess like this much $ should be, wake up Humminbird!!

Cette application me permet de planifier un voyage l’hiver en plaçant mes waypoints à distance. Le hic est que je dois travailler sur mon iPhone, je ne peux pas l’utiliser sur mon écran d’ordinateur, c’est juste sur un mobile. Également, mon coéquipier ne peut rien ajouter, car cela ne se transfèrera pas et il ne peut pas voir ce que j’ai ajouté. Autre avantage, je n’ai pas besoin d’acheter une autre application mobile en cas de panne de mon traceur. Bref, c’est merveilleux, mais il y a encore des améliorations à y apporter.

This app allows you to have touch screen with the 1022 GPS. Perfect, makes things so much quicker

I always have a great experience when I have issues. No matter who I speak to they are always professional and helpful

Good

This app is a must have for any person on the water

Il serait intéressant de rendre cette application compatible avec CarPlay

J ai hate de voir les future lunette fishfender 3D + ia integrer

I just paid $250 last year for active captain app and I just bought the new phone and I would like to transfer my old chart which is already I paid to new phone but the customer service told me it’s no way to move to new phone and you need to pay money again ,do not waste the money on Garmin unit. Lawrence is much better and don’t need to buy your chart or update which all the unit already has the chart as well.

Pêche

So cool, A must have!

The only thing I would like to see is a satellite base map.

Very gud

I love driving back to Captain and setting courses and the boat just rise itself. It’s amazing. Thank you very much for doing this.

Like most things Garmin the app is solid without any unnecessary stuff. Works well.

In typical Garmin fashion, they’ve made an app that you can get a lot out of, with a bit of a learning curve.

Great tool to have on hand when I go on the big water

Love this app and use it extensively with my Garmin gpsmap and echomap uhd chart plotters Highly recommend to any serious sport fishing enthusiastic.

J’ai une formation en technologie, très humblement, au début j’ai eu quelques embûches, mais après avoir apprivoisé l’application je suis vraiment satisfait, j’utilisais auparavant une application sous Windows qui était à pain in the neck. Active captain est simple, rapide à maîtriser et très conviviale. La seule amélioration que j’apprécierais est que lorsqu’on utilise l’option itinéraire auto, qu’elle ne soit pas enregistrée comme une trace qui ne se synchronise pas. Pour le reste, c’est génial, on crée nos route bien confortable chez soi et une fois au bateau pouf tout se synchronise, j’adore

Active captain is great for when off the water, and planning your next outing.

Just did an update using utube video works great

Great App and positive experience based on initial setup and everyday usage. Click and go! Makes being on the water that much more fun!

Easy way to keep your echomap up to date

I purchased a boat May 2023 with twin Garmin 1243XSV chart plotters. After updating the software and downloading what I thought was a chart, I am extremely underwhelmed. My previous Garmin echo map had so much more. also, when I got through updating my software on my Garmins, The software gave me trouble message for my twin Yamaha engines. it told me I needed to finish scanning. It said that I needed to take my boat to the Yamaha dealer. Interesting. I did the first 20 hour scheduled maintenance. Nothing was wrong. Now I get a trouble message when I open my chart plotters telling me I need to take my boat back to the Yamaha dealer. very disappointing and very frustrating. One other thing – my Auto pilot, which is connected with the Garmins does not seem to be operating the same anymore. May 2024: Now, back to the dealer for the 100 hr. They removed “System Scan” error message three times, but it kept coming back. If my phone automatically sees the Garmin Wi-Fi network it will connect, then the “System Scan” error comes back without opening Active Captain. The dealer told me to delete Active Captain app and update my charts via the SD card with my computer. This app is too buggy to use. The error message pops up every time I turn on the ignition key and has to be acknowledged before using my Garmins.

I bought a new IPAD specifically for boat usage and downloaded ActiveCaptain for navigation. Loaded up all charts fine. Problem is that it often takes many attempts to get the program to open and run. When I say many, without exaggeration I counted and it is not unusual to have to hit the program icon 20 times in a row to get one where it will load and run. While on the chart page it will then run without issue. If I go to any other area, say user data where you would store your waypoints or destinations, it usually shuts down and I have to start over again. This happens about 75% of the time. I contacted Garmin and after a few weeks they sent me a note saying make sure all other programs are off, hope that helps. Not really much use. To be clear though I had already made sure it was the only program open and ran it in airplane mode to make sure nothing associated with WiFi was conflicting. As it stands, it is usable for simple navigation without going into any user data such as saved tracks etc . . . One last point. Every now and then the program run on iPad just resets or something. All charts and user data lost. All personal data gone. A month ago in planning for a trip I mapped out the route (open ocean). Took a while to enter data and today all gone. I will reload charts again but looks like this program will not run properly on the new iPad. Short any other information I would guess this has something to do with a compatibility issue between the program and the new IPAD, since it seems to run fine for other people here. If this issue gets addressed I will come back and give it 5 stars as I like it when it’s running. But for me at this time I can’t rely on it for what I intend to use it for so sadly, 2 stars.

I love that I can mirror the plotter to my phone and tablet. However, getting there took time with support. You must disable cellular data in order for Helm to show the video feed. You can still press buttons and the thumbnail will reflect that, but no video. There are in app settings and phone settings so it can be seamless. This app helps when we are cozy down below and need to get some info about what’s going on up top and around us. While we are not using it to its full potential, the bells and whistles we have are pretty great. 3 stars due to the cellular issues and cannot pinch to zoom on Helm. A few other minor frustrations. Can’t wait until any tablet can be used as a full replacement for a plotter and all instrumentation is available wirelessly. Still, hands on analog data is still pretty hard to beat. If you wanna impress the hotties, this app will do it. If you wanna impress your fishing buddies, this app will do it. Be prepared for jeers from the fuddyduddy and boomer crowd.

When transferring charts via the app it can take a very long time depending on the amount of data to be transferred. I have about 22 Gigs of charts and most time it hangs up and fails to transfer, or if it does it hangs validating. Either way you are looking at a full day when it does manage to work. The QuickDraw community almost always hangs up transferring. The app is very slow moving from step to step of transferring information. For example it will transfer the Active Captain data and when finished it can take another 30 minutes to begin the transfer of the one chart files if it doesn’t completely hang in the process. The app sets up both a WiFi connection and a Bluetooth connection to your mobile device which is a private WiFi from your internet WiFi if network if you have one so I cannot understand why the transfers are so unreliable and slow.

Latest update - WHAT bug fixes? Publish real release notes! Garmin, please pull HELM back out of Active Captain! Helm has been totally dysfunctional since being integrated into Active Captain. There seems to just be too much overhead with whatever else is going on in Active Captain, and connection, updating and reliability of Helm has deteriorated to the point that it simply can no longer be trusted. I simply do not understand what you were thinking that it you thought it was a good idea to integrate it. I LOVED Garmin Helm as a stand alone product. Now: Connection is now problematic. The screen locks up. It repeatedly disconnects from the chart plotter. It has to be reconnected every time you want to use it. The chart plotter shuts off WiFi and Bluetooth and has to be reconfigured to start the session again! None of this is acceptable when you are on the bow trying to keep an eye on the depth to drop anchor, or navigate through shoals! It is dangerous. The last thing one needs to be doing is running back down to the pilothouse to reestablish a connection when what you need to be doing is paying attention to the work at hand! You have managed to RUIN a great product. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pull it back out as a standalone product. There is no rational need for it to integrated with Active Captain. It adds no value by having them integrated, and doing so has ruined the utility of Helm.

GPS location on the app used to work and with all Location Services turned on, it shows me in Miami?? I’m in the Bahamas! I’ve contacted customer service and after multiple responses they told me Active Captain was not designed to be a chart plotter. I don’t need it to be...just want it to show my actual location. The only thing this app is good for is plotting a course and syncing it with your chart plotter...but only after you’ve found your actual location. Was looking into a Raymarine switch but found Garmin bought Navionics! Thought paying the extra $$ for Garmin would be worth it. You guys have proved me wrong. Garmin: get your stuff together. Oh, and your customer service is only available 5 days a week?! We cruise full time but isn’t 95% of boating activity done during the 2 days you’re closed? I’m afraid all of these acquisitions are showing consumers/users you’re more interested in profitability than quality. I’ll be seeking alternatives in the future.

I really like the design of the app, but it is extremely buggy and often slow. Among the problems I’ve seen so far: * contour lines inaccurate, showing some water areas in the color of land. The soundings are still there, but the color is wrong. This is the most serious issue. Only seeing it on iPad. Check Effingham Bay, Barkley Sound on Vancouver island for example. * app crashes on first run, then runs ok on second run. This happens on my iPhone but not the iPad. * current stations shown twice in the ring when tapped on * tide and current stations disappear on iPad * very long load time for current data (intermittent) * location services don’t work on iPad. Yes, it’s turned on for the app in iOS * long time to paint charts (intermittent) * downloaded charts vanish from iPhone and need to be redownloaded frequently. Not handy when navigating outside cell coverage areas. * this isn’t a bug, but I’m disappointed the integrated weather data went away versus the old BlueChart app. I also found that updating my chart plotter’s software obliterated the Canadian charts that were formerly built in. Not cool, especially since it turns out my 3-year-old plotter isn’t supported with ActiveCaptain, but I did go ahead and buy them again to get the latest. I can get over being duped into buying charts I already owned, but I’d really like to see the app quality improve to make it usable. I do use the app for its excellent features, but I frequently have to fall back on the old BlueChart app for reliability. Don’t give up please. You can make this a five star app with a focus on bug fixes and performance.

Garmin owner for about 25-30 years so have used many Garmin software products through the years. While having the ability to connect the phone to my chartplotters sounds nice, this app is filled with nuances that make the experience frustrating. Whether it’s long software download times (don’t lose power on phone or chartplotter or the chartplotter could be rendered useless warns Garmin), unspecified download times (Garmin says it could take a long time), missing steps in documentation, or connection to “features” I don’t want and can’t turn off quickly enough, this app is challenging. The good news is if you can run the gauntlet and your system restarts, the chartplotters work well. I liked the waypoint management features and capability of the discontinued Garmin Homeport software so much more than AC - in fact, I still use it.

Needs some work. Not user friendly. I spent a lot of money on the electronics themself and everything needs to go thru this app for some reason. It will always tell me i need a active capt sd card in the slot even though i have a vision plus card already installed. Im 33 years old and can barley use the app. Garmin is going to loose all their customers who are older than me. My father already bailed to a lawance. I thought i was good to go...dowloaded the area i needed ect. Im navigating on the water and i noticed the maps and depths are not good. Turns out i need to find the tiny little button on the top right screen on the active capt app to register my charts as well... its just too much. I just want to navigate the waters safety. May be returning the chart plotter to west marine if the next few trips dont go better.

I purchased a Garmin fish finder over any other brands specifically because of the Active Captain capability with being able to contribute charts to the QuickDraw community. I viewed it as a challenge to fill in missing gaps & areas that haven’t been chart/plotted before. I’ve been on several different lakes now and according to this Active Captain app, it shows dates and times that I have uploaded surveys to the chartplotter; however, it’s been over a week and my QuickDraw contours have never uploaded to the QuickDraw community. I was hoping to use this phone app to show friends and family different depths of lakes to plan future fishing trips, yet Garmin has let me down. Very disappointed so far with my choice in my first fish finder. My fish finder is a Garmin ECHOMAP UHD2 53cv. And yes, I have selected within the Active Captain app to Contribute to the QuickDraw Community.

I switched chart plotters from Raymarine to Garmin at the electronics store recommendation & haven’t found anything superior with garmin. Perhaps it’s just me but I cannot view my garmin chart plotter on my ipad, raymarine connection was a snap via bluetooth, the admiral was happy plus it gave me an extra set of eyes. I’ve also found garmin auto route sub par, it seems to plot what it wants not what I want & way too many non “hazzards” pop up requiring constant stabbing “ok” on the screen. Not sure of any benefits to the active captain app, I like to sit home and plot a course & transfer to the boat, my workaround is to use the argo app and then manually enter it into my plotter. C map is also a disappointment. Perhaps i’ll post this on trawler forum & down east sites, hope its just something i’ve overlooked or missed.

Do not even think of buying this product unless you’ve recently purchased a new Garmin chart plotter. If you have an older chart plotter like me they will not let you download your already purchased chart and will force you to buy a new one to use this app. And the new charts will cost you $200 plus. This is an outrageous sum for what is essentially just a backup tool to your chart plotter. Additionally, as others have noted, this is a poor replacement for bluechart Mobil which is far superior to this app. Unfortunately, bluechart Mobil is no longer being supported by Garmin so you’re out of luck if you don’t already have. But if you already have blue chart Mobil, stick with it and don’t upgrade to this inferior overpriced product. And by the way, if you already purchased maps in bluechart Mobil recently they won’t honor that either if you try to transfer to this app.

Unless you live a life devoid of other commitments, don’t attempt to install this application! I have spent DAYS trying to divine what exactly the next step might be to get this thing up and running. Every time I turn a corner I slam into another wall. My current complaint (#8 or 9) is that the chart update and the active captain community update keep cancelling each other out. I’ll get 35% into the charts, then the Community update takes over and kills it. I get 47% into the Community update, then the charts take over and kill it. I watched it go through this cycle at least 10 times over the past HOUR. Now I’m trying to get in touch with Garmin. The “help desk” says they will return my call “between 1 hour 59 minutes and 2 hours 23 minutes” from now! 🤬🤬🤬. If your life is empty and you need a way to fill your days, this might be for you. If not, buy something else!!

Bought a Garmin GPS for my boat because I have them in the seven airplanes that I own. The Garmin GPS works fine but trying to interface it with active captain is completely not intuitive. What little manuals you can find about it are very poorly written and the videos go so fast that you can’t follow them. Takes forever to download and authenticate maps. I probably spent 10 to 12 hours and just now getting things to work. Seriously Garmin I know how well your aviation applications work you really need to have some of your top rate software engineers work on this product hard. You can eventually get this application to do what they say but not with out a lot of trial and error, and frustration. .

I was a Garmin BlueChart Mobile user and loved it. When they bought Active Captain and stopped supporting BlueChart I switched without hesitation and paid for new charts on AC. I could not be more disappointed. So many of the intuitive aspects of BlueChart are awkward and clumsy on AC, like accessing tide and current information. In ActiveCaptain: • Route names are limited to 15 characters (good luck with “Charleston south to Waccamaw”) • Waypoints are limited (to 500, I believe). I was trying to make a route for the ICW and it just stopped letting me add points with a message saying something about maximum number of waypoints being reached. When I clicked the HELP button and searched the exact wording of the error message I got links to ads for watches but no answers about my issue. I had literally hundreds of routes and waypoints stored in BlueChart Mobile. • On a typical ICW day of 40-50 miles and 8-10 hours the gps speed indicator will freeze at least once, sometimes more. The entire app froze several times in the 6 weeks I suffered through it, once requiring that I delete and reload it to get it to work again. • I always recorded a track in BlueChart and iNavX – important to track how far you’ve gone or how to get out of a sketchy spot by tracing your path backwards. When I couldn’t figure out where this feature had moved in AC I called support and was informed that tracking no longer exists. I have switched back to iNavX and have also downloaded Aqua Map Marine (which also uses Explorer chart data for Bahamas and has Active Captain overlay). Everything about Garmin’s ActiveCaptain feels rushed, sloppy, and thrown together, three attributes that I never allow on my sailboat.

When I launch the app and attempt to log in, a screen with two check boxes (asking me to agree that using charts is dangerous, and to agree to their lack of privacy policy) appears. I tick both check boxes, and the login screen appears. I enter my login info and seconds later that first screen with the check boxes appears. Over and over again, that screen refreshes, and nothing I do will get out of that cycle. After a few cycles it logs me out. I’ve had the same experience with an old Garmin account and with a brand new one I created with a different email address. No response from support when I emailed. Trash fire app. Sure would like to update my chat plotter’s firmware and pay for some charts. Extremely frustrating. Huge failure, Garmin.

I’m regretting my purchase at this point - perhaps the functionality to activate *pre installed charts* is in here, but if so, it seems to be buried in a location not easily found, or requires a convoluted process that either doesn’t work properly or is not clearly explained. I could go on, but suffice it to say my chartplotter gives me the message that the chart subscription has not been activated, and that I need to ‘connect my mobile device to the chartplotter’, while at the same time I can see the chartplotter and the active charts subscription in the ActiveCaptain app, and I am currently looking at a screen telling me my mobile device is connected to the chartplotter.

I’ve been trying to do a simple sync in order to get the maps on my GPS unit to update (these are maps I’ve paid Garmin for!). I have spent no less than 4 hours on this. Either the app or the GPS unit itself have given me error after error after error. I have successfully completed 2 x software updates, but still my newly paid-for maps will NOT work on my GPS. It will not allow me to load them. Everything keeps telling me “if the error persists, just go to Garmins support page”, which is completely unhelpful. We live in 2025 Garmin…..not 2007. Get your software fixed! My kids free software at school works 1000% better than this. Pure frustration. Terrible customer experience. Would not recommend ever

Let me be clear their advertising is misleading at best and criminal on its face. I bought a 93sv UHD. This unit can record sonar and even use active captain. The problem is you can never view your recording. They do not support it. You’re basically recording your favorite spots and giving the info to Garmin, without you ever being able to use it. Active captain is missing features and therefore does not let you record on this unit. As best I can tell, Garmin uses active captain to gain access to your information and your favorite fishing spots. As a matter of fact, if you use community contours it actually takes away detail from the built in lake maps. Wish I had not bought this Garmin unit.

It’s nicer to be able to update our chart plotters and instruments via the app, check on what going on from our cabin, etc., but that’s all when it decides to work. It takes several times for the app to connect even though my phone has been on the Garmin WiFi for a while. And even then, it takes several times for you to be able to see your chart plotters, let alone interact with them. The most annoying thing though is that only two people can use the active captain. We often crew with three or more people, and not being able to share is ridiculous. This app could be infinitely better.

Where do I start. Amounting works simply and intuitively. And helpful and nice as the Garmin product support people Are they are saddled with crazy bad functionality. I have spent days tying to connect my ipad. Still not possible. Meanwhile I have been charting on board and it is maddeningly complicated. I always match my Navionics route to my Active Captain route and talk me probably 15 minutes back to the place. I’m starting over again. Because my iPad is still not connected to my chart plotter and the functionalities aren’t all there apparently on the iPhone app I have to do my course plotting on board on a rocking boat often times. Any slight slip and it seems to send me back to to go and I start again.

Very promising ability to connect to the garmin network but horribly executed. The constant jumping back and forth between networks is obviously designed by folks who have never tried to use this. Unable to run if you have mobile data connection and Wi-Fi, very unstable. No way could this app be any part of a vessel infrastructure. It is a toy at best and barely can perform upgrades. Garmin refusal to allow network joins to present a single Wi-Fi vessel interface is embarrassing. With a rubbish excuse of needing to provide a stable network it delivers none of it. If that was true they would never allow connection to nmea2000. More excuses to lock users into a feeble infrastructure. Just horrible.

Sucks -

Chartplotter was unable to download software updates and support was not available

L’application est simplement un enfer quand nous voulons mettre à jours nos appareils. Pas stable du tout . Ex: ça fais des jours que j’essaye de mettre à jour mon Force kraken , j’ai même vue la MAJ ce télécharger mais rien ne change dans la version du logiciel du Force … C’est vraiment pas simple.

Why not connect the plotters directly to internet - archaic system !!!!!

Not a very user-friendly app. No idea if my phone is connected to my Garmin echo map or not.

As many, I mainly use my ipad for looking spot, marking waypoint and fishing spot and I work great but you can’t sync the works in between your IPad and your IPhone. In the ends, I’ve work for nothing because I don’t bring my IPad on my fishing boat. It really bothers me that on the same account their’s no way so share informations in between devices.

Garnish UI is completely confusing and downright annoying!! Wish I never bought a chart plotter from them!!

Compared to Navionics, this is garbage. The only benefit it has is that it allows you to sync with a Garmin Chartplotter, but charging the full price for annual updates to maps, that likely only get real updates updates in your specific area every 10 years. Creating usable routes is a PITA. My most recent gripe is that I recently had an issue of it getting stuck in a loop trying to calculate a route somehow. My only option was to uninstall the app, and bam, the maps that I had on there from last year are gone….want them again, it seems as though I need to signup for an annual update/re-buy of my maps. I don’t think so….

Unable to share cart from my gpsmap 86 to the application. Always need to by cart. bad app

I anticipated that all Navionics (on Apple Devices) data would be synchronized through Active Captain Software onto my 7410 GPS Chartplotter. Nope. Why not?

Paid for subscription and the plotter will not update. Says no updates but my phone says update needed

Horrible confusing app. Terrible!!

No idea how the app is because I can’t pair to it

When I try to import my gpx file from navionics to active captain, the active captain app crashes. When i try to reopen it, it just keeps crashing instantly. I deleted it, redownloaded it, was working fine, as soon as I try importing waypoints again, it just crashes again and keeps crashing. I spent hundreds of dollars on maps and cant even use them on my phone. I’ve tried 3 different devices and have the same problem on each one.

Lake of the Woods ON Canada the charts for the lake have many odd contours often in a narrow channel where detail is important. Very frustrating to work with. Have to rely on paper charts for accuracy.

Produit correct, mais impossible de télécharger des cartes dedans et quand on demande du support il faut laisser un message. Le problème il nous rappelle, mais le lendemain!! Pas très pratique. Bonne chance pour trouver le numéro de téléphone. Je ne recommande pas ce produit!

I have purchased a set of maps and installed them on my fishfinder however, I see it on my phone app but can't select it. Unfortunately, the region that I'm in the Chart that comes with the app is not adequate. There's no way to select my purchase chart in the app.

I bought an expensive Garmin Navionics card and it appears and Garmin Echo2 chart plotter can’t understand it. Looks like dumb hardware vs clever navionics software.

Garmin is the best forward facing sonar but pairing it with navionics makes it necessary to have a second graph (lowrance or humminbird) with lake master or angler’s edge mapping. The activeCaptain app is not user friendly and navionics mapping will not load. This is the 2nd fish finder that came with navionics and I would recommend that future buyers be prepared to be disappointed. Garmin needs to pair with lake master or angler’s edge. Both products work great in Canada

Too buggy. The tide and current info is often only available if you download or delete a section of the chart.

Server error Download and install updates? Incomplete guide and no notice when (if??) complete The confusion on the app is matched by the confusion in the owners manual.

Very disappointed with the time it takes to get your quick draw nothing downloaded to the quick draw community

Brutal

One of the worst app I tried so far, time to move on!

Have bought 2 separate chart subscriptions through this app (it costs 2-400 dollars extra for good mapping with garmin units) and they didn’t show up in the app. Matter of fact the app is still trying to sell me the same subscriptions to get charts in this area. Have contacted Garmin still haven’t heard back. Trying to solve this issue online brought me to a Facebook group whose purpose was to dissuade people from using this unsupported marketing gimmick app and rather use Garmin Express to load charts and updates. I will not spend any more hours or jump through hoops to use a several thousand dollar unit. It will either work as they state in there marketing material or it will be returned

Je vais changer mon pointage quand je vais recevoir mes carte je vient d’acheter navionic + pour 250 $ mais je n’ai même pas eu les cartes !! Et aucune aide

Previous app used to tell me what version of software my units were operating on, and if there is updates available. Now I can’t find any of this information

Major money grab. The max side Nicro sd card the 8612 will accept is 32G. You can only download less than 32G “like maybe 27G or less so the unit will still operate” of data onto micro sd cars. Which is about the province of bc. So if you pay for Canada and Alaska charts you cannot download the entire purchase onto one SD card. You would have to download onto several 32G micro sd cards. Then insert the one you would be using. Total scam. This is not what I payed for. I think I will buy a Lawrence and sell all my Garmin products. With Lance, you can buy all your charts on a microSD card and just simply plug it in without an annual fee.